Rail-chair.



A. G. LIEBMANN.

RAIL CHAIR.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.28,1913.

11,126,505. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

"flfTYE STATES PATENT OFFIQ.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN, OF BUTTE, MONTANA, ASSIG NOR TO VIGNOLES RAIL CHAIRCOMPANY, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RAIL-CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUcUs'r G. LIEBMANN, citizen of the United States,residing at Butte, in the county of Silverbow and State of Montana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail- Chairs, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to track appliance and particularly to chairs forattaching the rails of the track to ties thereof.

The primary object of the invention is to do away with the necessity ofspiking the rail directly to the ties, and to provide a constructionwherein primary and secondary fastening means are used, the primarymeans holding the chair permanently to the tie while the secondary meansholds the rail adjustably to the chair thus providing for a vertical andlateral adjustment of the rail with relation to the chair without thenecessity of removing the primary fastening devices.

With the increase of mileage in the United States, the decrease oftimber proper for ties and the increase in weight of rolling stock andspeed of trains, it becomes every day more vitally necessary than somebetter means should be provided for holding the rail to the tie than bythe use of spikes engaging in direct contact with the flange of therail. There are many objections to the use of spikes as rail fasteningmeans. When the rail has to be adjusted for gage or the level of therail is even slightly changed, it is necessary to pull the spikes,adjust the rail and then redrive the spikes. This holds true of both outand screw spikes. The spikes can not be redriven in the same openingsagain but have to be redriven in different places, as a spike replacedin a hole that has once been used results in a de cided decreasedholding power of the spike. The constant shock and jar given to the railby passing trains and the undulatory movement communicated to the railall tend to loosen the spikes in the tie and to partially withdraw thesespikes. As a consequence the rail soon becomes loose and is thereforeliable to spread under lateral thrust. The spikes then have to beredriven in a new place and the tie soon becomes what is known as spikedto death, even though the tie is otherwise in good condition.Furthermore, the crushing action of the spikes upon the fiber of thewood tends to the very rapid deterioration of the tie and consequentdisintegration. Screw spikes have been used to some extent to replacethe driven out spikes. This form of spike not only prevents wear of thetie and of the wood around the spike but also increases the generalstability of the track, provided, however, that the spike once drivenremains intact and permanent in the tie. The use of screw spikes,however, in place of driven spikes does not provide for any adjustmentof the rail as the screw spikes have to be removed and replaced wheneverthe rail is adjusted either for gage or for elevation on shimsnecessitating considerable outlay for labor and decreasing the life ofthe tie as new holes are made to render a stability of holding power.The old holes, even though plugged up, permit the entrance of water andthus cause decay. The purpose of my invention, therefore, is to providea firm support for the rail which shall em body certain advantageousfeatures of the present tie plate by distributing the weight of the railmore uniformly over the face of the tie and at the same time provide forthe primary attachment of the rail to the tie through the chair by meansof screw spikes and provide adjustable means for clamping the railfirmly down upon the bed plate of the chair.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a chair,the body of which is capable of being made from or similar to anordinary structural form element readily manufactured by rolling andpressing. This is an important feature in View of the fact that railchairs to be practical must be made at relatively small cost and yethave the maximum strength and rigidity to resist the 9 strains andstresses to which the rail and chair are subjected.

A further object of the invention is to provide rail clamping meanssupported upon the chair and laterally adjustable relative thereto orvertically adjustable so that when it is desired to vertically adjustthe rail, shims of greater or less thickness may be inserted between therail and the bed plate.

A further object is to provide means whereby the clamping members whichengage the rail may be held in locked engagement with the bed plate orbody of the chair and forced tightly down upon the flange of the rail.

A further object is to provide two separate means for wedging the railengaging clamping members downward so as to hold the rail securely toits seat so that in case one of these members does not properly drawdown upon the rail clamps, the other one will do so.

A further object is to provide means for wedging the clamping membersdown upon the chair and laterally against the rail to prevent rattling.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide a railchair that will allow for a maximum thickness of shims during wintermonths in localities where the natural drainage is poor.

A further object is to provide a chair construction which will securelyand firmly hold the rail clamping members down upon the chair so as toresist any tendency of the rail to tip, these rail clamping membersbeing so constructed as to present a relatively large area forengagement with the rail base.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a tie, a rail chairconstructed in accordance with my invention and a rail supportedthereon. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rail and rail chair, the tiebeing in section. Fig. 3 is a. plan view of the rail chair and railillustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a perspective detail view of one of thedrift bolts whereby the clamping members are locked to the chair. Fig. 5is an end view on a small scale of the body portion of the chair toillustrate its construction from a standard structural element.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and inclicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingsby the same reference characters.

In these drawings, A designates the tie and B the rail. The tie may beof any ordinary construction but is illustrated as a wooden tie. Therail is of any standard form.

Disposed upon the face of the tie and be neath the rail is the bed plate2. This bed plate is formed at its margins with the downwardly deflectedheads 3 constituting abutments. Each of these heads is longitudinallyrecessed as at 1, that is, the head is formed with an under lip and anupper lip or flange curved so as to form an open nearly cylindrical head5. These heads or abutments 3 are downwardly deflected so as to engagethe side faces of the tie as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Each head 3is slotted as at 6, there being two of these slots and spaced from eachother a distance somewhat greater than the width of a rail base. At theopposite ends of the bed plate 2 and disposed along the median line ofthe bed plate are the upwardly extending abutments 7, these abutmentsbeing formed integral with the bed plate. Each abutment has a verticalinner face 8 and an outwardly and downwardly inclined outer edge face.Each abutment is formed with a transversely ex tending slot 9 spacedintermediate the upper and lower ends of the abutment. The bed plate isformed at its corners with apertures through which pass the screw spikes10, these spikes being of the ordinary standard form and holding the bedplate securely to the tie. These screw spikes l0 constitute the primarymeans of holding the rail to the tie through the inter-mediation of thechair.

Mounted upon the chair between the abutments 7 are the clamping members11. There are two of these clamping members, one on each side of therail and both of them are alike. Each clamping member comprises a plateadapted torest flat upon the face of the bed plate and having a lengthequal to the width of the bed plate which in turn is equal to the widthof the tie. Each plate 11 is formed with an upwardly and inwardlyextending lip or flange 12 adapted to engage over the base flange of therail and to extend nearly to the web of the rail. Each plate 11 outwardof the lip 01' flange 12 is transversely slotted or mortised as at 13 toreceive the corresponding abutment 7 and to have sliding engagement withsaid abutment laterally. The thickness of the plate 11 is such that whenthe plate 11 is in place, the upper face of the plate outward of theflange or lip 12 will be approximately level with the lower wall of theslot 9 in the corresponding abutment. It is to be noted that when therail clamps are in place there is a space left between the inner edgesof the plates 11, this space be ing shown most plainly in Fig. 1. 7

Each end of each plate 11 on a line just rearward of the base of theflange or lip 12 is formed with a downwardly projecting extension 15which is adapted to be inserted in the slots 6 out in the side edges ofthe bed plate 2. It is to be noted that the slots 6 are wider than thethickness of the extensions 15 so as to permit the rail clamps to beshift ed laterally. Each of these extensions 15 is formed withtransversely extending drift bolt passages 16, each passage having alateral extension or enlargement designated 16*, this enlargementextending downward and outward as illustrated in Fig. 1. I hareillustrated two of these perforations or passages 16 in each of thewings or extensions 15 but I do not wish to be limited to this number.These passages 16 are arranged in vertical relation and the passages inthe extensions of one clamping member aline with the passages in theextensions of the other clamping member to permit the passage oftransversely extending drift bolts 17 These drift bolts have a bodyportion nearly circular in cross section and each drift bolt is formedwith a radially projecting fin 18 which engages in the extension 16 ofeach aperture 16. This fin 18 has an outer face which is inclined to thelongitudinal axis of the drift bolt and constitutes therefore a wedgingface so that the drift bolt as a whole constitutes a wedge. Theapertures 16 and the interior of the heads 3 are of such size as tosnugly receive the drift bolts 17. It will be seen that when the driftbolts are forced inward, the wedging face of the fin 18 will act toforce the wings or extensions 15 downward and outward, thus holding therail clamps securely upon the bed plate, but that by loosening thesebolts, [the rail clamps are loosened so as to permit a fine shim to beinserted between the rail clamps and the bed plate. By shifting thedrift bolts from the upper apertures 16 to the lower apertures in theextensions, the clamps will be held in a raised position so as to permita relatively thick shim to be inserted beneath the rail clamps and thebed plate.

The bolts are held from removal by any suitable means such as the cotterpins 19. For the purpose of laterally adjusting the clamps relative tothe bed plate and thereby loosely adjusting the rail so as to bring therail to gage, I provide the wedges 20, one for each of the abutments andpassing through the slots 9 in said abutments. These wedges have abeveled inner face as illustrated in Fig. 3 which has wedging engagementwith the base of the lip or flange 12 on the corresponding clampingmember. It will be obvious therefore that when the wedge is driven in,it will force the corresponding rail clamp tightly against the rail, orif the opposite wedge be driven out to a desired extent, the action ofthe first wedge will be to shift both rail clamps and the rail laterallywith relation to the chair.

WVhile the wedges 20 are primarily for the purpose of adjusting the raillaterally and urging the clamps firmly against the flange of the rail,these wedges 20 may also be used for holding down the clamping platesupon the bed plate and thus preventing any rattling. To this end thesewedges 20 have an inclined upper face as illustrated in Fig. 2, the baseof each wedge being approximately equal to the distance between centersof the apertures or perforations 16. Thus when the rail clamps areraised by the introduction of a very thick shim, the smallest portion ofthe wedge will be engaged through the corresponding abutment while whenno shim is used or a very thin shim, the butt end of the wedge willengage with the corresponding abutment as shown in Fig. 2. These wedgesmay be held locked in any desired manner as by the use of bolts passingthrough perforations 21 in the wedges. Cotter pins might be used,however, for this purpose.

It is to be noted that the drift bolts are held in position by cotterpins and not by nuts or bolts. The reason for this is that these driftbolts are often buried under ballast and in winter water is liable tocollect around the bolts and nuts and the nuts rust and become verydiflicult to remove. This is obviously not the case where cotter pins orlike fastening devices are used.

The Final Report of the Block Signal and Train Control Board of theInterstate Commerce Commission dated June 29, 1912, lays down certainrequirements for ties and track fastenings. Among other things, itstates that it is not sufficient that the rail should support verticalloads and resist direct and horizontal thrust and creeping but that theoverturning thrust upon the rail must be resisted, and in order that thetie may properly support the stresses transmitted to it by the rail asuitable fastening of the rails to the ties is most essential. Thisreport further states that under the conditions existing on a largenumber of the railroads in this country, the means of adjustment of railto tie must be such as to admit of a blocking up or shimming, and thatthis involves the use of adjustable fastenings which must however have aminimum of complication with consequent chance for lost motion. It willbe noted that my improved chair conforms to the requirements above laiddown in that it does support the rail against overturning or tipping aswell as against the horizontal or vertical thrusts and that it doesprovide means for shimming and for adjustment to gage.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a section of Lackawanna steel pilingfor the purpose of illustrating the structural form from which myimproved chair may be made. The form illustrated in Fig. 5 is a wellknown form, easily rolled and easily pressed into shape and hence itwill be seen that by forming the bed plate from this structural elementit is possible to make it very cheap and by well known mechanicalprocesses.

What I claim is:

1. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping means supportedupon the bed plate, and means extending below the level of the bed plateengaging the clamping means and the bed plate and locking the twotogether.

2. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping means disposed uponthe bed plate and laterally shiftable with relation thereto, and meansextending below the level of the upper face of the bed plate and havinginterlocking engagement with the bed plate but shiftable with relationthereto, said means engaging the rail clamping means to hold it inproper position relative to the bed plate.

3. A rail chair including a bed plate hav ing depending tie engagingabutments, rail clamping members extending over the bed plate, and meansengaging the abutments and the rail clamping members and interlockingthe rail clamping members to the bed plate, said means being verticallyadjustable.

4:. A rail chair including a bed plate, rail clamping members disposedupon the bed plate, adjustable means for drawing the clamping membersdown toward the bed plate, and adjustable means for shifting theclamping members laterally relative to the bed plate and forcing theclamping members down toward the bed plate.

5. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges providedwith enlarged portions formed with transversely extending hollow beadscut away at spaced points, rail clamping members disposed upon the bedplate and having portions extending through the cutaway parts of thebeads, and looking means engaging both the clamping members and saidbeads and locking the bed plate and clamping members together.

6. A rail chair including a bed plate having hollow members at its ends,rail clamping members mounted upon the bed plate and having downwardlydisposed extensions formed each with a plurality of openings adapted toaline with said hollow members, and locking means extending through thehollow members and through said openings and locking the clampingmembers to the bed plate.

7. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges formed withenlarged portions downwardly deflected to engage against the sides of atie, said enlarged portions being formed with transverse recesses andbeing cut away at spaced points, rail clamping members disposed upon thebed plate, each of said rail clamping members having dependingextensions at its ends adapted to be received in the cutaway portions ofthe enlargements of the bed plate, said extensions having a verticalseries of openings, and transversely extending wedging members passingthrough the recesses of the enlarged portions and through the open ingsof the extensions whereby the wedges may be adjusted to lock the railclamping devices to the bed plate.

8. A rail chair including a bed plate having transversely extendingrecesses at its side edges and vertically disposed abutments spaced fromeach other a distance greater than the width of the base of a rail,oppositely disposed independent rail clamping devices mounted betweensaid abutments and having portions intersecting the recessed portions ofthe bed plate, and means passing through said recessed portions of thebed plate and through the intersecting portions of the rail clampingdevices for locking the clamping devices to the bed plate.

9. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges formed withtransversely extending recesses, the face of the bed plate being formedwith upstanding abutments spaced from each other a distance greater thanthe width of a rail base, oppositely disposed, rail clamping devicesdisposed upon the face of the bed plate between said abutments andhaving portions thereof downwardly extended to intersect the recessedportions of the bed plate, and 'wedging members passing through saidrecessed portions and said extensions of the clamping members wherebysaid clamping members may be forced downward upon the bed plate.

10. A rail chair including a bed plate having oppositely disposedupstanding abutments on its ends, oppositely disposed rail clampingmembers independently movable with relation to each other disposedbetween said abutments and having horizontal portions embracing each acorresponding abutment, and wedges, one for each abutment passingthrough the abutment and bearing upon the face of said horizontalportion.

11. A rail chair including a bed plate having oppositely disposedupstanding abutments, oppositely disposed rail clamping membersindependently movable with relation to each other disposed between saidabutments and having horizontal portions embracing each a correspondingabutment, and wedges one for each abutment passing through the abutmentand bearing upon the face of said horizontal portion, each of saidwedges having one of its side faces inclined and bearing against theadjacent clamping member whereby to force the clamping members laterallytoward the rail.

12. A rail chair including a bed plate having at its ends upwardlyextending abutments, oppositely disposed rail clamps each embodying aplate having an upwardly and inwardly extending lip upon its upper faceadapted to engage over a rail base, each of said abutments being formedwith stepped faces beneath one of which faces the rail clamp isdisposed, and a wedging member engaging beneath the other of saidstepped faces and engaging over said rail clamp.

18. A rail chair including a bed plate having at its ends upwardlyextending abutments, oppositely disposed rail. clamps each embodying aplate having an upwardly and inwardly extending lip upon its upper faceadapted to engage over a rail base, and wedge members passing througheach abutment and having each an inclined lateral face, the under faceof each wedge member bearing against the upper face of the clampingplate and one of the lateral faces bearing against the base of the railengaging lip or flange whereby the rail clamping members may be forcedtoward each other and against the rail.

14:. A rail chair including a bed plate having its side edges enlargedto form open beads or bulbs, said beads or bulbs also being open attheir ends and being cut away at spaced points, upwardly extendingabutments formed upon the upper face of the bed plate extendingtransverse to the line of the rail supported on the bed plate and spacedfrom each other a distance greater than the width of the rail, railclamping members disposed upon each side of the rail and comprising eacha plate adapted to rest beneath the rail base and upon the bed plate,each clamping plate having upon its upper face an upwardly turned lip orflange adapted to engage over the face of a rail base, each clampingplate being cut away at its middle to embrace the correspondingabutment, wedges extending through the abutments immediately above theclamping plates and having wedging engagement with the faces of saidrail engaging lips or flanges, said clamping plates each havingoppositely disposed depending extensions adapted to be received in thecutaway portion of the beads, each of said extensions being providedwith a plurality of vertically disposed apertures, and drift boltshaving wedging faces disposed through the beads and through theapertures in said extensions and acting to hold the rail clampingmembers into firm engagement with the face of the bed plate.

15. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extendingupwardly and downwardly from the horizontal plane of said bed-plate,laterally and vertically adjustable rail clamping members co-acting witha rail and said abutments, and means for locking the rail clampingmembers in adjusted positions.

16. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extending aboveand below the horizontal plane thereof, rail clamping members adjustablelaterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate, and meanspassing through the lower abutments and clamping members for holdingsaid clamping members in different positions of adjustment.

17. A rail chair including a bed-plate having abutments extendingupwardly and downwardly from the horizontal plane of the bed-plate, railclamping members ad;

justable laterally and vertically with respect to the bcd-plate, meanspassing through the lower abutments and railclamping members for holdingsaid rail clamping members in different positions of verticaladjustment, and means passing through the upper abutments and engagingthe rail clamping members for shifting said rail clamping memberslaterally and holding them in adjusted position.

18. A rail chair including a bed-plate having spaced upstandingabutments, rail clamping members disposed between said abutments andadjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate, andmeans extending below the bed-plate at its sides for holding said railclamping members in vertically adjusted positions.

' 19. In a rail chair, the combination with a bed-plate having dependingabutments for engagement with a sub-structure and provided withupstanding abutments arranged between the depending abutments, of a railadjustable laterally and vertically with respect to the bed-plate. railclamping members co-acting with the upstanding abutments, meansextending through the depending abutments and engaging the rail clampingmembers for holding the rail in different positions of verticaladjustment, and means co-acting with the upstanding abutments andclamping members for holding the rail in different positions of lateraladjustment.

20. In a rail chair, a bed-plate having depending abutments adapted tobear against the adjacent edges of a cross tie and provided withupstanding abutments disposed between the depending abutments, a railsupporting member adjustable laterally and. vertically with respect tothe bed-plate, means co-acting with the depending abutments and railsupporting member for holding said rail supporting member in differentpositions of vertical adjustment, and means co-acting with theupstanding abutments and rail supporting member for holding the saidrail supporting member in diflerent positions of lateral adjustment.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST G. LIEBMANN.

Witnesses FREDERIC B. WRIGHT, J. D. YoAKLnr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

